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TWENTY-FOUR LITTLE 
FRENCH DINNERS 

AND 

How to Cook and Serve Them 



TWENTY- FOUR LITTLE 
FRENCH DINNERS 

AND 

How to Cook and Serve Them 

BY 

CORA MOORE 




NEW YORK 

E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 

681 Fifth Avenue 



1 \'i . ; 

.M 



Copyright 1919, by 
E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 



All Rights Reserved 



UC'I 18 ! C U9 



Printed in the United States of America 



©CU 5362 48 



PREFACE 

The Little Dinners of Paris are world- 
famous. No one can have sojourned 
in the fascinating capital in its normal 
days without having come under their 
spell. To Parisien and visitor alike 
they are accounted among the uniquely 
characteristic features of the city's 
routine life. 

Much of the interest that attaches to 
them is, of course, due to local atmos- 
phere, to the associations that surround 
the quaint restaurants, half hidden in 
unexpected nooks and by-ways, to the 
fact that old Jacques "waits" in his 
shirtsleeves or that Grosse Marie serves 
you with a smile as expansive as her 
own proportions, or that it is Justin or 
Frangois or "Old Monsoor," with his 
eternal grouch, who glides about the 
zinc counter. 

But there is also magic in the arrange- 
ment of the menus, in the combinations 



vi PREFACE 

of food, in the very names of the con- 
fections and in the little Gallic touches 
that, simple though they are, transform 
commonplace dishes into gastronomic 
delights. 

There is inspiration in the art that 
enters into the production of a French 
dinner, in the perfect balance of every 
item from hors d'ceuvre to cafe* noir, 
in the ways with seasoning that work 
miracles with left-overs and preserve 
the daily routine of three meals a day 
from the deadly monotony of the 
American regime, in the garnishings 
that glorify the most insignificant con- 
coctions into objects of appetising 
beauty and in the sauces that elevate 
indifferent dishes into the realm of 
creations and enable a French cook to 
turn out a dinner fit for capricious 
young gods from what an American 
cook wastes in preparing one. 

The very economy of the French is 
an art, and there is art in their economy. 
It is true that their dishes, as we have 
known them in this country, are expen- 



PREFACE vii 

sive, even extravagant, but that is be- 
cause they have been for the most part 
the creations of high-priced chefs. They 
who have made eating an avocation 
know that it is not necessary to dine 
expensively in order to dine well. 

C. M. 

New York, May, 1919. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface v 

The Bugbear of American Cookery 
— Monotony 1 

Flavor — Handmaid of Variety . 9 

True Trails toward Economy . 15 

The Appeal to the Eye ... 21 

Sauces, Simple and Otherwise . 25 

Twenty-four Little French Din- 
ners 33 

(With Directions for Preparing) 

Let Us Eat Fish!. . . . .109 

ix 



TWENTY-FOUR LITTLE 
FRENCH DINNERS 

AND 

How to Cook and Serve Them 



THE BUGBEAR OF AMERICAN 
COOKERY— MONOTONY 

It is as strange as it is true that with 
the supplies that have lately proved 
sufficient to feed a world to draw upon 
the chief trouble with American cookery 
is its monotony. The American cook 
has a wider variety of foods at his com- 
mand than any other in the world, yet 
in the average home how rarely is it 
that the palate is surprised with a flavor 
that didn't have its turn on the cor- 
responding day last week or tickled 
with a sauce that is in itself an inspira- 
tion and a delight, not a mere "gravy," 
liable to harden into lumps of grease 
when it cools. 

Most of this is simply the result of 
blindly following tradition. Daughter 
has accepted mother's precepts, regard- 
ing them even as the law of the Medes 
and the Persians, "which altereth not," 



2 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

and if it were not that increased prices 
and, lately, at least, "food regulations," 
have veritably compelled her toward a 
more wholesome simplicity, the United 
States would probably be what it was 
called half a generation ago, "a nation 
of dyspeptics." And we were a nation 
of dyspeptics because the great Ameri- 
can mother of the latter end of the 
Nineteenth Century, in spite of all her 
unequaled qualities in every other 
direction, and in spite of all the enco- 
miums she received in resounding prose 
or ecstatic verse for her prowess in the 
kitchen, was from the points of view of 
health, economy and wisdom the worst 
cook in the world. 

With prices as they are the American 
housewife cannot afford to use butter 
and eggs and flour with the prodigality 
that was a habit with her mother, but so 
limited is the average woman's knowl- 
edge of cookery that these restrictions 
merely mean more monotony than ever. 
It is partly to demonstrate that this 
state of things is unnecessary and that 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 3 

true food economy is not at all syn- 
onymous with "going without" that 
this book has been compiled. 

It is upon variety that the French 
cook confidently relies to make each dish 
of each meal not just something to eat 
because her family must have food, not 
merely a sop to the Cerberus-gnawings 
of hunger, but a delight to the eye, to 
the palate, to the stomach — truly a 
consummation devoutly to be wished 
for the American home table, and just 
as possible to attain as it is possible to 
procure from the grocer or the nearest 
pharmacist the ingredients by which 
these wonders are wrought. 

But the average American woman 
doesn't look beyond her own kitchen 
and her own traditional row of spice 
boxes for her flavorings. She has her 
"kitchen set," which ordinarily com- 
prises a row of little receptacles labeled 
"pepper," "salt," "cloves," "allspice," 
"ginger," "cinnamon," "nutmeg," and 
possibly one or two other spices or con- 
diments — rarely more. With these and 



4 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

a bottle each of lemon extract and 
vanilla, she is satisfied that she is fully 
equipped as far as flavoring possibili- 
ties are concerned. 

If she has laid in a box of sage and one 
of mixed dressing with, perhaps, some 
paprika and thyme, she views her fore- 
sight edness with much complacency. 
She is supplied with savories. 

Then she goes right on sighing, "Oh, 
for a new meat, instead of the same old 
round of mutton, pork, beef and fish; 
fish, beef, mutton and pork," disclaim- 
ing utterly any responsibility for the 
monotony that is undermining the 
family health and temper and, quite 
possibly, its morals. 

That is where the American house- 
wife makes her primary and most im- 
portant mistake. The French, on the 
other hand, know that there are, liter- 
ally, hundreds of ways to vary every 
dish, however ordinary it may be in its 
primary state. That is their secret of 
success: unfailing variety coupled with 
economy. 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 5 

However, this is not to claim that the 
American palate would take kindly to 
all the French cooks' little delicacies, 
or that it could be cultivated to that 
degree that makes a Frenchman regard 
a perfectly balanced meal even as an 
inspired poem. 

Probably Americans, as a class, could 
never be induced to eat some of the 
little birds — the mauviettes, the alouettes, 
the sparrows baked in a pie, that so 
delight the Frenchman. Also, it is a 
question whether snails, even if it were 
possible to obtain the superior Bur- 
gundian, fat and juicy and cooked even 
as our own Oscar used to prepare them 
for certain Waldorf guests, would ever 
appeal to the American taste, as even 
the common hedgerow sort of snail 
does to the average Frenchman. 

It is not that the French dinners of 
Monte Carlo are necessarily so superior 
to American shore dinners, or that the 
little dinners of Paris are so infinitely 
to be preferred to those, say, of certain 
places in New Orleans, or that the 



6 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

coppery-tasting oysters of Havre are 
to be compared with those of our own 
Baltimore. There is no more to be 
said, probably, for the woodcock pates 
of old Montreuil, or the rillettes of Tours, 
or the little pots of custard one gets at 
the foreign Montpelier, or the vol-au- 
vent, which is the pride and boast of 
the cities of Provence, than there is for 
grandmother's cookies such as have 
put Camden, Maine, on the map, or 
Lady Baltimore cakes, or the chicken 
pies one goes to northern New Hamp- 
shire to find in their glory, or the tur- 
keys that, as much as the Green Moun- 
tains, make Vermont's fame. 

Still, there is no question but that 
the American palate would benefit much 
by being cultivated, not only in the 
interests of economy, but also with a 
view to the increase of gastronomic 
pleasure, for a taste attuned to many 
variations is as an ear sensitive to the 
nuances of sweet sounds or an eye 
trained to perceive delicate tones and 
tints. It is really a matter for regret 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 7 

that we, as a people, have not been as 
willing to learn from the French the 
art of cooking and eating as we have 
been to acquire from them knowledge 
of the art of dress. Until we widen our 
horizon sufficiently to do this, we have 
not even begun to develop all our food 
resources or to understand the first 
principles of true food economy — which 
is not at all synonymous with "going 
without." 



FLAVOR, HANDMAID OF VARIETY 

It is because he has a multitude of 
seasonings at his command and knows 
how to use them that the French cook 
is enabled not only to send to the table 
an infinite variety of dishes, but, at 
the same time, to practice economies 
that were otherwise impossible. The 
American buys an expensive cut of 
meat and, as is right in such a case, 
treats it as plainly and simply as possi- 
ble. The Frenchman buys meat of a 
much lower quality, but so embellishes 
it that when it comes to the table it is 
superior, or, at least, equal to that which 
costs much more. 

It may be objected that this is no 
real economy, because by the time the 
French cook has sauced and spiced his 
cheap cut in order to make it palatable, 
the cost is as great, if not greater than 
it would have been had he paid more 
9 



10 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

for his meat in the first place. This 
would be true enough according to the 
average American's method of proced- 
ure. But it is to be remembered that 
the French cook has already in his 
kitchen the cooking vinegars, the spices, 
the dried herbs, the extracts, that in 
very small amounts — a dash or a few 
leaves — are used at a time; also, that 
in a great number of cases, gravies and 
sauces are made from the by-products 
of the main dishes — those by-products 
that in the American kitchen usually 
go down the sink-drain or into the gar- 
bage pail. 

Take a peep into the typical French 
cupboard. There you will find from 
twenty-five to thirty liquid seasonings 
such as anchovy extract, tobasco sauce, 
meat extracts, mushroom catsup, to- 
mato paste, chutney, various vinegars, 
Worchestershire and many another flav- 
oring designed to give a tang and a 
zest even to the most unpromising dish, 
if used aright. There you will find, 
too, fifty or more dry seasonings, includ- 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 11 

ing anise, basil, saffron, savoury, clove 
or garlic, cassia buds, bay leaf, ginger 
root, pepper-corns, marjoram, mint, 
thyme, capers and so on. 

Herein lie the "secrets" of French 
cookery which are, in truth, not secrets 
at all, but merely the application of 
common sense to the cuisine. The 
French have never • allowed their taste 
to be restricted by prejudice, so they 
hail a new flavor with delight rather 
than registering an instinctive dislike 
because it is not familiar. With a 
little applied education, Americans can 
bring the charm of the French table 
to their own homes rather than when 
they are, as they say, tired of the 
same old round of "eats," seeking out 
a nondescript table d'hote restaurant 
and eagerly consuming what is set 
before them, grateful for a change. 

But don't harden your heart against 
French cookery merely because you 
have sampled it, as you fondly think, 
at one or another of the "red-inkeries" 
of New York or any other city. For 



12 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

the most part the "French" restaurants 
of the land are in reality not French 
at all, but Italian for the most part, 
and whatever Gallic flavor the remain- 
der ever possessed has well-nigh van- 
ished. There may be exceptions but, 
if there are, their patrons carefully 
guard the secret. 

But to return to our subject: It is 
the French cook's knowledge of the 
subtleties, the nuances of seasoning 
that stands him in good stead. The 
American woman who has essayed to 
use some spice or savory unfamiliar to 
her and has turned out a dish which her 
family has declared "tasted like medi- 
cine" is, naturally enough, discouraged 
from wandering after that particular 
strange god again. The truth is that 
she has overdone the seasoning. She 
doesn't want to be parsimonious, which 
is just what the French cook is with 
his flavors, only he, more scientifically, 
calls it using good judgment. If he 
uses garlic in a salad, it doesn't neces- 
sarily follow that the entire household 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 13 

must take on the atmosphere of an 
Italian barber shop, for he uses garlic 
or onion, not to give their flavor to a 
dish, but to bring out the flavors of the 
vegetables with which they are used. 

Vanilla and lemon have an almost 
universal appeal to the palate, and 
knowing this, the American cook, like 
the generation before her, has always 
seasoned her rice puddings, for instance, 
with one or the other, just as her apple 
sauce has invariably been flavored with 
lemon or nutmeg, her bread pudding 
with vanilla, and so all along her re- 
stricted line. 

The French cook holds no brief 
against vanilla, and sometimes he flavors 
his rice pudding with it, but he so 
guides matters that the very sight or 
mention of rice pudding does not bring 
the thought of vanilla to the mind, for 
with him it may be flavored with 
pistache or rose or have a. geranium leaf 
baked in it, giving a delightful, in- 
describable flavor. An ordinary bread 
pudding becomes veritably a queen of 



14 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

puddings as, indeed, it is called, merely 
by having a layer of jam through its 
center and a simple icing spread over 
the top. Ordinary pea soup exhib- 
its chameleon-like possibilities merely 
through the addition of a little celery- 
root, a dash of curry or the admixture 
of a few spoonfuls of minced spinach, 
and tomato soup has for most an appeal 
that even this favorite of soups never 
had before when just the right amount 
of thyme is added while it simmers, 
along with, perhaps a bayleaf. 

In the recipes appended to the little 
dinners in this book a great many of the 
French cooks' materials ar - 1 methods 
of procedure are set forth. But if the 
ordinarily experimental American house- 
wife has the flavorings on hand, she 
will doubtless herself contrive many an 
alluring dish of her own. Variety is 
said to be the spice of life. However 
that may be, the spices and their 
friends, the herbs, certainly make for 
variety in that important function of 
life, the dinner table. 



TRUE TRAILS TOWARD ECONOMY 

In the first place, no trail toward 
economy in conducting the cuisine of a 
household lies through the delicatessen 
store or the "fancy" grocery. It is an 
unflattering comment on the spirit of 
thrift of American housewives that the 
delicatessen store has settled down to 
such a flourishing existence, particu- 
larly in Eastern cities. Any woman 
who possesses a stove and a kitchen 
of her own should be ashamed to admit 
the laziness that more than a semi- 
occasional visit to these "delicate eat- 
ing" places predicates. There are few 
things to be had in them that she 
shouldn't be able to make better at 
home and at a cost that is but a fraction 
of what she has to pay for the usually 
inferior, impersonal messes that come 
ready-made. 

If the housewife has read some of the 
very excellent instructions that were 

15 



16 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

printed to help her conduct her house- 
hold adequately amid the necessary 
limitations of wartime, she already 
knows that there is absolutely no ex- 
cuse for ever throwing away a crust or 
crumb of bread. As for that, neither is 
there any excuse for ever disposing of 
what is left of the morn ng cereal except 
to the advantage of some later made 
dish, or of consigning meat scraps or 
bits of fat or even bones to the garbage 
pail. It is not only that, in the interests 
of economy, she should use them; it 
is rather that if she is a good cook she 
will be very glad to have them to use. 

Stale bread and breadcrumbs are 
the bases of a score of the most delicious 
puddings on the French cook's card; 
cooked cereal is one of the best thicken- 
ings for soups and gravies, as well as 
being far more wholesome than flour for 
this purpose; meat scraps, trimmings 
and bones should go into the stock pot. 
When a soup made of these is served 
as the introductory course at dinner 
it will be found that the family will be 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 17 

fully satisfied with much less meat, and 
it is in the lessening dependence of 
Americans on meat that will make for 
the greatest item in economy. 

A French cook of parts would tear 
his hair if he could see how fats and 
drippings from meats are thrown away 
in many an American kitchen. They 
are poured into the sink till the drain 
pipes clog and, to complete the little 
serial of extravagance, the plumber has 
to be called. The French cook knows 
that this is the finest grease for frying in 
the world and that its use would save 
many a pound of butter. He strains 
it all carefully and keeps the different 
sorts in labelled jars or crocks. He 
knows by experience what particular 
fats give the best flavors to certain 
things, and he knows that vegetables, 
fish, eggs, pancakes and what not are 
far better fried in these natural fats. 
Who that ever ate an egg fried in bacon 
drippings will ever want one cooked in 
butter, even at a dollar a pound ! 

One will not find the delicatessen 



18 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

flourishing in France — one will not 
find it at all — and the fancy grocery, 
above mentioned, is another pitfall for 
the American housewife. She likes the 
sight of food done up in fancy contain- 
ers, in glass, perhaps, and buys them, 
not realizing that she is paying a large 
price for perfectly unnecessary and 
totally unnourishing "pretties." If she 
is fearful of the handling some loose 
food stuffs may be subjected to in the 
stores, why does she not practice the 
most practical economy, go to the 
fountain-head of supplies in the city, 
the large market, and buy in quantity, 
so far as she can? A few ounces of 
bacon, already sliced, and sealed in a 
glass dish are, indeed, appetising even 
in their raw state, while a side of bacon 
is not, unless looked upon through the 
eyes of imagination, yet the latter 
method of purchasing this commodity 
is two or three hundred per cent cheaper, 
and when it arrives at the breakfast 
table it will be found every bit as ap- 
pealing to a happy morning appetite. 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 19 

Any consideration of economy in the 
cuisine must include the meat problem. 
Meat is the most expensive item on the 
menu and the true solution of the ques- 
tion is not only to conserve all the uses 
of it but to eat much less. That would 
make not only for economy, but for 
better health as well. 

It has been estimated that 186 pounds 
of dressed meat is — or was prior to the 
war — the yearly average of consump- 
tion for every American; the English- 
man being a good second with his 120 
pounds, while the Frenchman remained 
perfectly contented and healthy with 
79 pounds, the Italian with 72 pounds, 
and the Swiss, anything but a nation of 
invalids, managed very well on 60 
pounds per person. 

This is no plea for vegetarianism, 
though it may be said in passing for the 
benefit of those who think that good red 
blood and hardy muscle are to be ob- 
tained only by absorbing the red blood 
and muscle of the beasts of the field, 
that there is as much, if not more, of 



20 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

this building power in the beans, the 
peas, the lentils that we regard too often 
as mere secondary foods. 

Most of all the American should take 
advantage of the great stores of fish 
which are equally as nourishing as meat 
and may easily be made as appetising 
with simple sauces that French cookery 
will teach us. Fish are cheap; at least, 
many neglected kinds are; they are easy 
to cook and they are one of the best 
foods in the world. 



THE APPEAL TO THE EYE 

No one, least of all the French cook, 
calculates to feast the eye at the expense 
of the sense of taste, yet it is his 
experience after long years that good 
digestion is much more likely to wait 
upon the appetite that has been stirred 
to a preliminary enthusiasm by the 
attractive appearance of a dish. So 
they serve little fritters of vegetables, 
dabs of jelly, slices of hard boiled eggs, 
pickles, parsley, cress and nasturtiums 
with meats, put sprigs of fresh green 
in their gravies, decorate desserts with 
nut-meats, flowers and fruits, and in so 
doing add a bit to the gayety of the 
table, satisfied that the trifling extra 
expense, time and energy incurred is 
more than compensated for in the 
pleasure the results afford. A fair trial 
of this pleasant idiosyncrasy of the 
French is convincing that the appear- 
21 



22 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

ance of a dish has more bearing on the 
relish of a meal than we over here have 
fully realized. 

They are particular, however, to be 
consistent in the use of garnishings. 
Flowers and fruits are reserved for 
sweet dishes, except in the case of nas- 
turtiums, which they regard as much a 
vegetable as a flower and use freely with 
meats. 

A stew or a creamed dish is merely a 
more or less indifferent something to eat 
when it is dished up any old way and 
set upon the table. But if it is heaped 
daintily on a pretty platter, surrounded 
by a ring of brown mashed potato, its 
sides decorated by dainty shapes of 
toasted bread, perhaps buttered and 
sprinkled with minced parsley, it has 
become something to awaken the slum- 
bering or indifferent appetite and at 
practically no extra expense of time or 
money. 

If the yolks of two hard boiled eggs 
are minced and mixed with part of the 
raw white of one, the paste then formed 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 23 

into balls like marbles and dropped 
into boiling water, one has little yellow 
spheres to lend an enlivening color note 
to clear soups. Two or three of these 
dropped into each plate just before 
serving makes a pleasing change from 
the usual croutons. 

Sprigs of fresh chickory make the 
daintiest of garnishes for cold meats, 
and a few of the tender green stalks 
will add to the appearance of practically 
any salad. As for water-cress and 
pepper-grass and, of course, parsley, 
minced and otherwise, no French chef 
would think of preparing a meal without 
a plentiful supply of them on hand. 

It isn't essential that every dish 
should be turned into an elaborate 
work of art, as if it were to be entered 
at the annual exhibition of the Societe 
des Chefs de Cuisine, but neither is 
there any reason, even with modest 
means at command, for giving cause for 
that old slogan of the great American 
dinner table: "It tastes better than it 
looks." 



SAUCES, SIMPLE AND OTHERWISE 

Brillat-Savarin, who would be remem- 
bered as a wit had he not been even 
more brilliant as a chef, paid his respects 
to the English by saying they were a 
nation of a hundred religions and only 
one sauce. Being a true Frenchman he 
believed a reversal of the numbers 
better for the soul. It is certainly 
better for the appetite. 

To be sure the proper mental sauce 
for a good dinner is wit, and the best 
physical one, hunger, but as we all of 
us have more or less of an Epicurean 
strain in us and do not eat solely to 
satisfy bodily needs, it is well that the 
American cook who essays to bring 
variety to her board should have some 
knowledge of those Gallic creations, the 
sauces, by which she is enabled to trans- 
form plain dishes into seemingly pre- 

25 



26 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

tentious ones, even though she never 
attain that sauce that Balzac knew, 
"in which a mother might unsuspect- 
ingly eat her own child." 

In the first place every French chef 
keeps three kinds of what he calls roux 
on hand, ready for making meat and 
fish sauces. These are made by cooking 
together eight ounces of butter and 
nine ounces of flour. That intended for 
use with brown meats is stirred together 
till it becomes a medium brown in shade; 
white roux is cooked only sufficiently 
to banish the raw taste and not allowed 
to color, while pale roux is kept over the 
fire just long enough to attain a deep 
cream color. These are mixed with 
milk, soup stock, water or gravy as 
the case may be when a sauce for fish, 
meat or vegetables is needed. 

For instance, to make Sauce a la 
Crhme, for use with white entries, take 
two tablespoonfuls of the white roux 
in a saucepan with a cup of milk and a 
tablespoonful each of finely chopped 
parsley, shallots and chives. Boil fif- 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 27 

teen minutes, pass through a colander 
into another saucepan, add a small 
lump of butter, more finely chopped 
parsley and salt and pepper. Mix well 
with a wooden spoon and it is ready for 
the table. 

To make a favorite Sauce Piquante, 
cut two onions into slices, also a carrot 
and two shallots and put into a sauce- 
pan with a scant tablespoonful of but- 
ter. While heating over a moderate 
fire, add a sprig of thyme, a tablespoon- 
ful of minced parsley, a bayleaf and two 
or three cloves. When the onions are 
golden brown add a tablespoonful of 
flour, a little plain stock and a table- 
spoonful of vinegar. Boil again, pass 
through a sieve and season with salt 
and pepper. 

A simple sauce is that Maitre a" Hotel, 
which is rarely made at home though so 
generally liked. Put a lump of butter 
into a small saucepan over a moderate 
fire and add to it chopped parsely and 
chives, or parsley alone. Season with 
salt and pepper and a little lemon juice 



28 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

and while it is sizzling pour over the 
hot steak or fish. 

Sauce d'Anchois, than which there 
isn't anything better with baked fish, 
is also easy to make. Take three or 
four anchovies and mash them up well 
with two tablespoonfuls of butter. Now 
make about a pint of brown sauce with 
brown roux and milk, and stir the 
anchovy butter into it. Just before 
taking from the fire add the juice of 
half a lemon or more, according to taste. 

Sauce Bearnaise was a favorite of 
Henry of Navarre, and it is excellent 
with steaks, chops and, particularly, 
roast beef. To make it beat the yolks 
of three or four eggs in a saucepan, add 
a tablespoonful of butter and a little 
salt. Stir over a slow fire till the eggs 
begin to thicken, then remove and stir 
in two more tablespoonfuls of butter, 
stirring till the butter is dissolved. 
Season with chopped fine herbs and 
parsley and pour in a teaspoonful of 
French vinegar. 

In many parts of France they have 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 29 

a favorite dressing for boiled fish called 
Sauce Ravigote. To make it mix half a 
pint of stock in a saucepan with a small 
amount of white wine or cider, then 
chop fine herbs such as chervil, tarra- 
gon, chives and parsley, or whatever 
other herbs are in season, to the amount 
of about three tablespoonfuls, and mix 
with the stock, adding salt and pepper. 
Stew gently for about twenty minutes, 
then blend a tablespoonful each of 
flour and butter, stir into the sauce and 
continue to stir till thick. Just before 
serving squeeze in the juice of half a 
lemon. 

The word "Ravigote" means, literally, 
"pick me up," and it is applied to 
minced tarragon, chervil, chives and 
parsley, the herbs being kept separate 
and served with salad on four little 
saucers. Ravigote butter, made by 
kneading butter with the four herbs 
and adding pepper, salt and lemon 
juice, spread between thin slices of 
bread, makes delicious sandwiches. 

To make the very generally liked 



30 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

Sauce Blanquette, which is used to raise 
cold meats to the dignity of a fricassee, 
take about four ounces of pale mux, 
thin slightly with boiling water added 
by degrees, then put in a bunch of sweet 
herbs, cooked button mushrooms and 
small onions and pepper and salt to 
taste. Put in whatever cold meat you 
have, cook till it is well heated and 
serve. 

The following is called Sauce d'Havre, 
and through the use of it it will be 
discovered that the taste of curry is an 
agreeable one in many another case 
than in connection with the veal and 
rice arrangement to which most Ameri- 
can cooks restrict it. Peel and slice 
four onions and two apples and place 
in a stewpan with four ounces of butter, 
six peppercorns, a sprig of thyme, two 
bayleaves and a blade of mace. When 
the onions have become slightly brown 
over the moderate fire, stir in a mixture 
of two tablespoonfuls of flour and the 
same amount of curry powder, shortly 
afterward adding six gills of white stock 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 31 

and half a pint of white sauce. Season 
with salt and half a teaspoonf ul of moist 
sugar, boil for a quarter of an hour, 
adding more white stock if necessary, 
and stirring constantly. Put through 
a strainer into another saucepan, boil 
up again, skim, and use when required. 
Fricasseed chicken takes on a new 
glory when it is prepared with Sauce 
Lyons. This is made by stirring grad- 
ually three well-beaten eggs into half a 
pint of plain white sauce, then placing 
the mixture in a jar and standing in 
boiling water till the sauce thickens. 
Just prior to pouring over the chicken 
add the strained juice of half a lemon. 



TWENTY-FOUR LITTLE 
FRENCH DINNERS 



MENU 



Potage a la Duchesse 
Cabillaud a la Bechamel 
Pommes de Terre, Genevoise 
Salade Celeri 
Pouding a la Vanille 

Potage a la Duchesse. — Butter a baking 
sheet, cover with four ounces of chou 
paste, cook in the oven for six minutes, 
then cover the paste with forcemeat 
in small lumps, a little distance apart. 
Cut the paste into twelve equal sized 
pieces, each piece holding a lump of the 
forcemeat, place in a tureen, pour over 
a quart of piping hot consomme^ and 
serve. 

33 



34 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

Cabillaud a la Bechamel. — Mix an ounce 
of flour with an ounce and a half of 
butter melted in a saucepan, then 
gradually add a pint of milk which has 
been allowed previously to simmer with 
a minced onion and carrot in it, also a 
bunch of sweet herbs, two or three 
cloves, a grating of nutmeg and pepper 
and salt. Bring to a boil, add two or 
three tablespoonfuls of cream, strain 
and put back into the saucepan. Now 
put in two or three pounds of cod, 
previously boiled and flaked, being 
thoroughly free from skin and bones. 
Shake all together very gently and 
when all is thoroughly hot, turn out 
onto a silver dish and garnish with 
sliced hard-boiled eggs. 

Pommes de Terre, Genevoise. — Shred 
four medium sized boiled potatoes, 
season with a little salt and pepper. 
Butter lightly half a dozen tartlet 
moulds, cover the bottoms with grated 
Parmesan cheese, arrange in each a 
layer of potatoes, then another sprink- 
ling of cheese, and so on till the moulds 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 35 

are filled. Put a little butter on top. 
Place on a very hot stove or in a very 
hot oven for fifteen minutes to half an 
hour. Serve on a hot dish in the moulds. 

Salade Celeri. — Trim two or three 
heads of celery, cut into short shreds, 
wash thoroughly in cold water and drain. 
Place in a salad bowl, season with a 
little salt, a very little pepper and one 
or two tablespoonfuls each of oil and 
vinegar. Add several sprigs of pepper- 
grass and serve at once. 

Pouding a la Vanille. — Place a vanilla 
bean in a mortar together with half a 
pound of sugar and pound well together 
and sift. Separate the whites from the 
yolks of three eggs, beat the yolks well, 
stir them in with a pint of cream and 
mix in with the vanilla sugar. Whisk 
the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and 
mix lightly in with the other ingredients. 
Butter a pudding mould, pour in the 
mixture and cover with a sheet of oiled 
paper. Stand the mould in a sauce- 
pan of boiling water and steam the 
pudding for half an hour. In the 



36 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

meantime prepare the following sauce: 
Pour a breakfast cupful of canned or 
fresh pineapple juice into a lined pan 
with the juice of a lemon. Put this on 
the fire till it boils, then pour it over a 
tablespoonful of arrowroot, stirring all 
the time. | Return the sauce to the 
saucepan and stir till it thickens over 
the fire. When the pudding is cooked, 
turn it out onto a hot dish, strain the 
sauce over it and serve. Be careful 
that no water enters the mould con- 
taining the pudding while it is cooking, 
or it will be spoiled, 



II 

MENU 

Consomme a la Napolitaine 
Cabillaud a la Financiere 
Pommes de Terre en Rubans 
Beignets a la Printemps 
Choufleur au Gratin 
Bavaroise au Cafe 

Consomme a la Napolitaine. — Place in 
a saucepan with a lump of butter equal 
quantities of finely minced carrots, 
turnips, a head of lettuce and one of 
endive with a little chervil. Add a 
quart of the water in which the cauli- 
flower in this dinner was cooked, pep- 
per and salt, and simmer for an hour. 
Just before serving stir in the beaten 
yolk of an egg and half a pint of milk. 

Cabillaud a la Financiere. — Cook a piece 
of cod weighing three pounds in salted 
water for twenty minutes, drain a place 

37 



38 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

on a serving platter covered with the 
following sauce: Put two glasses of 
Madeira wine and a small piece of meat 
glaze in a saucepan with a pint of 
Spanish sauce and a gill each of essence 
of mushrooms and truffles. Boil till it 
coats the spoon. 

Pommes de Terre en Rubans. — Take 
large, smooth, pared potatoes and cut 
round and round in spirals about an 
eighth of an inch thick. Keep covered 
with a damp napkin till all are cut, place 
in a frying basket and fry in very hot 
fat till a light straw color. Sprinkle 
freely with salt and serve immediately. 

Beignets a la Printemps. — Make a sauce 
of two ounces of butter, four ounces 
of flour, a tablespoonful of brandy, 
a pinch of salt, sufficient water to make 
a creamy paste. Cook and, removing 
from the stove, work in the whites of 
two eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Cut 
into pieces any fruit desired, dip them 
in the batter and fry in butter to a 
light golden brown. Drain well, place 
in a serving dish, sprinkle well with 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 39 

powdered sugar and serve. If the fruit 
is not fully ripe, parboil in syrup before 
using. 

Choufleur au Gratin. — Soak a cauli- 
flower in water with plenty of salt, then 
boil in plenty of salted water for fifteen 
minutes. Remove and take away all 
the green leaves, lay it on a flat but- 
tered dish, previously rubbed with an 
onion, and pour over it a sauce made as 
follows: Melt an ounce and a half of 
butter in a saucepan, add a dessert- 
spoonful of flour, mix and add a cup of 
milk. Stir till it thickens, add pepper 
and salt and add two or three table- 
spoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese. 
Mix well and after pouring over the 
cauliflower sprinkle all over with bread- 
crumbs and place the dish in the oven 
till nicely browned. 

Bavaroise au Cafe. — Mix the beaten 
yolks of two eggs with a pint of milk 
and a cup of very strong black coffee. 
Bring to a boil in a saucepan, remove 
from the fire and allow to get cold, 
stirring occasionally. Add the yolks 



40 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

of two more eggs beaten stiff with two 
ounces of sugar. Mix well and then 
add the stiffly beaten whites of the four 
eggs along with half an ounce of dis- 
solved gelatin. Pour into a mould and 
turn out when set. 



Ill 



MENU 

Filet de Sole a la Provencal 
Poulet Saute a l'Estragon 
Artichauts a la Barigoule 
Petit Petac 
Souffle Georgette 

Filets des Soles a la Provencal.— Sprinkle 
the filets with pepper and salt and a 
little allspice and fry in salad oil with 
a finely chopped onion and a little 
chopped parsley. Serve with a slice of 
lemon on each filet. 

Poulet Saute a PEstragon. — Sprinkle the 
pieces of a cut up raw chicken with 
pepper and salt and cook in a sauce- 
pan with a little oil. Make a gravy of 
a cupful of clear stock in which tarragon 
stalks have been boiled for an hour, 
dish up the fowl on a hot platter, pour 
over the sauce, straining it, and sprinkle 
on top tarragon leaves blanched and 
coarsely chopped. 

41 



42 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

Artichauts a la Barigoule. — Cut off 
the tops and leaves of the artichokes 
and boil the bottoms in plenty of 
slightly salted water till tender. Scoop 
out the fibrous interior. Grate some 
cooked bacon into a saucepan with a 
gill of fine herbs and a cupful of broth. 
Cook for five minutes. Put a little of 
this mixture in each artichoke, cover the 
opening with a slice of lemon and bake 
in a saute-pan in the oven for twenty 
minutes. 

Petit Petac. — Peel tiny new potatoes 
and saute in oil till a golden brown. 
Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve. 

Souffle Georgette. — Grate a half-dozen 
stale macaroons into a half-cup of 
brandy, add a pint of cream and two 
teaspoonfuls of dissolved gelatine. 
Whip in a dozen maraschino cherries 
and turn into a mould to harden. Serve 
with macaroons dipped into the liquid 
that comes around the maraschino 
cherries. A custard may be used in this 
recipe instead of the cream. 



IV 

MENU 

Potage au Riz 
Rougets en Papillotes 
Veau a la Suzette 
Demi tasse 

Potage au Riz. — Put half a pound of 
well-washed rice into a saucepan with 
two quarts of vegetable stock and boil 
till tender. When the rice is cooked 
move the saucepan to the side of the 
fire and mix in a cupful of stewed to- 
matoes and an ounce and a half of 
butter. Serve with sippets of toast or 
croutons that have been fried in butter. 

Rougets en Papillotes. — This recipe is 
for mullets, but any small, plump fish 
may be used. Make a paper case for 
each fish with a sheet of well-oiled note- 
paper and put the cases into the oven 
for a few minutes to harden. Sprinkle 

43 



44 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

the under sides of the fish with pepper 
and salt and lay them in their cases 
with a small piece of butter under and 
over each. Place the cases in a baking- 
dish and cook for about twenty minutes 
in the oven, or more if the fish are other- 
wise than small. Sprinkle well with 
lemon juice just before serving. 

Veau a la Suzette. — Trim saddle of 
veal neatly and put it into a saucepan 
with a good sized piece of butter. Turn 
it constantly on the fire till it is a rich 
golden color all over, then put it onto a 
dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
Add more butter to the gravy in the 
saucepan and put in raw potatoes cut 
up in sections like oranges. Cover the 
saucepan and cook, shaking frequently, 
till the potatoes have a good color. 
Add an onion, finely minced, and when 
it is browned, a clove of garlic, minced 
very fine; next put in a tablespoonful 
of flour followed, when the flour is 
brown, by about two cupfuls of stock. 
Stir well and put back the meat and 
any juice that may have oozed from it. 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 45 

Lastly add a bouquet of herbs, simmer 
for an hour at least and serve the meat 
surrounded by the potatoes with the 
sauce poured over the whole. 



MENU 

Potage a l'Americaine 

Filet d'Eglefin 

Gigot de Mouton aux Epinards 

Chou de Mer au Fromage 

Petites Cremes au Chocolat 

Potage a l'Americaine. — Parboil a me- 
dium sized cauliflower in salted water, 
change the water and boil till done. 
Drain well and press through a sieve. 
Dilute with consomme or broth. Boil 
a few minutes more, stirring well. Beat 
up in a basin the yolk of an egg with 
three tablespoonfuls of cream, add this 
to a few tablespoonfuls of the cauli- 
flower mixture, then, taking the sauce- 
pan containing the soup from the fire, 
add the egg and cream mixture and stir 
together. Add half an ounce of butter 
and serve with croutons. 

46 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 47 

Filet d'Eglefin. — Cut a haddock into 
fillets, trimming into pieces about six 
inches long. Dip them in well beaten 
egg and then into sifted breadcrumbs 
and plunge into deep, well-boiling fat, 
frying to a rich color, turning occasion- 
ally to cook both sides evenly. Re- 
move, drain, put on a cloth spread over 
a hot dish and serve with a simple 
white sauce. 

Gigot de Mouton aux Epinards. — Roast 
a small leg of mutton, putting some salt 
and a small quantity of water at the 
bottom of the tin. When half cooked, 
remove the meat and carefully skim 
the gravy of all fat. Return the mutton 
to the tin, pour gravy over it and sur- 
round it with potatoes cut to the size 
of walnuts. Put back in the oven, let- 
ting the potatoes cook in the juice of 
the meat. Meanwhile cook about three 
pounds of spinach, drain, squeeze out 
all water and pass through a sieve. 
Return to a saucepan in which about 
two ounces of butter has been heated 
and season with pepper and salt. Add 



48" TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

a tablespoonful of gravy from the mut- 
ton and allow the spinach to simmer till 
the meat is done. Then pile the spinach 
with the potatoes about the meat and 
serve, having the gravy in a sauceboat. 

Chou de Mer au Fromage. — Carefully 
wash sea-kale to remove grit, remove 
any black parts from the roots and tie 
up the shoots in small bundles. Cook 
in boiling salted water for twenty min- 
utes, drain and keep hot. Mix on the 
fire an ounce of butter and a table- 
spoonful of flour, moisten with half a 
cup of water in which the kale was 
cooked, bring to a boil and mix in two 
or three tablespoonsfuls of grated Par- 
mesan cheese. Take from the fire and 
add the beaten yolk of an egg. Arrange 
the kale on a hot dish, pour the sauce 
over and serve immediately. 

Petites Cremes au Chocolat. — Mix two 
tablespoonfuls of chocolate or cocoa 
in a cup of boiling milk and sweeten to 
taste. When nearly cold add to this the 
yolks of two eggs, well beaten, and a gill 
of heavy cream. Mix thoroughly and 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 49 

strain into china cases. Place these in 
a large shallow stewpan containing just 
sufficient water to reach half way up on 
the cases. Let steam for twenty min- 
utes, when the custard ought to be firm. 
The water should be boiling when the 
cases are first put in, but afterwards 
may simmer. Put the cases on ice, and 
serve as cold as possible with little 
sponge cakts or lady fingers. 



VI 

MENU 

Potage puree de Pois Sees 
Saumon a la Hollandaise 
Pommes de Terre, Barigoule 
Haricots verts au riz tomate 

Potage Puree de Pois Sees. — Boil a pint 
of green peas in three pints of water 
with a piece of fat ham or bacon, two 
carrots, an onion, a leek, a bayleaf, 
some parsley, pepper and salt. Allow 
to simmer two or three hours, stirring 
occasionally. Pass the peas and onions 
through a hair sieve and add the strained 
liquor. Return to the saucepan, boil 
up, add some whole cooked peas with a 
little mint and serve. 

Saumon a la Hollandaise. — Cut a piece 
of salmon from the middle of the fish, 
cover in the kettle with cold water and, 
plenty of salt. Bring slowly to a boil, 

50 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 51 

removing scum, and allow to simmer till 
the fish is done. Drain thoroughly and 
serve with the following sauce in a boat: 
Take three ounces of butter, the yolks 
of two eggs and put them in a double 
boiler over the fire, stirring briskly till 
the butter is dissolved. Mix in a scant 
ounce of flour, stir well and add the 
juice of a lemon, half a pint of milk, 
a little grated nutmeg and pepper and 
salt. Stir constantly till the sauce 
thickens to the consistency of a custard. 

Pommes de Terre, Barigoule— Place 
ten potatoes in a saucepan with enough 
broth to cover them and boil slowly 
till done. Drain, taking care not to 
break them. Put a teacupful of olive 
oil into a deep frying pan, heat, put in 
the potatoes, tossing them till they are 
browned all over lightly. Place on a 
dish and sprinkle with salt, pepper and 
vinegar. Serve piping hot. 

Haricots verts au riz tomate. — Boil rice 
carefully so that every grain will be 
separate, toss it in a little butter and 
moisten with tomato sauce and add 



52 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

the yolk of an egg, well beaten and 
stirred in, and a little Parmesan cheese. 
Make a border of the rice on a dish and 
pile in the center some French beans 
plainly boiled and tossed in a little 
butter with some pepper and salt. 



VII 

MENU 

Potage Veloute 
Brochet a la Tartare 
Biftecks sautes aux Olives 
Pommes de Terre a la Lyonnaise 
fipinards au Gratin 
Beignets Souffles 

Potage Veloute. — Boil a cup and a 
half of tapioca in two quarts of water 
and season with salt and pepper. At 
the bottom of a tureen place a lump of 
butter, and the yolks of two eggs, pour 
the tapioca over while it is still boiling, 
add a pint of hot milk and serve. 

Brochet a la Tartare. — Cut a fresh 
pike into slices and marinade each 
slice separately with a sauce made of 
sufficient olive oil, black pepper, a 
minced onion, finely cut mushrooms and 
chopped parsley. Cover the fish with 

53 



54 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

breadcrumbs and broil, brushing occa- 
sionally with the marinade. When it 
is a golden color remove from the fire, 
place on a hot platter and serve sprinkled 
with parsley with a tartar sauce in a 
sauceboat. 

Biftecks sautes aux Olives. — Cut the 
steak into six pieces and toss in a fry- 
ing pan with lard. When well done 
sprinkle with seasoning and remove 
from the fire. Then take half a glass of 
white wine, a tablespoonful of con- 
somme, two or three dozen green olives, 
with the pits removed, and boil to- 
gether for a few minutes. Set the steak 
in a crown on the platter and in the 
center place the dressing. Pour the 
gravy from the frying pan over all and 
serve. 

Pommes de Terre a la Lyonnaise. — 
Take a dozen potatoes of the same size, 
cut into pieces the size of a quarter of a 
dollar, roll in flour and put into a frying 
pan with boiling fat, taking them out 
when they are a golden brown. Also 
fry some thin slices of onion, mix with 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 55 

the potatoes, sprinkle with salt and 
serve garnished with parsley. 

Epinards au Gratin. — Boil two pounds 
of spinach and chop very fine. Beat up 
two eggs to each pound of spinach, 
mix with it and sprinkle the whole with 
breadcrumbs. Pour over some olive 
oil or melted butter and heat thor- 
oughly in the oven in a vegetable dish. 

Beignets Souffles. — Put a pound of 
flour, a pinch of salt, a liquor glass of 
rum, the yolks of three eggs and a 
quantity of lukewarm water into a 
mixing dish and beat these together 
till it shrinks from the dish. Then mix 
in the well-beaten whites of the eggs and 
then allow to rise for an hour or so. 
Have a baking dish very hot and put in 
the paste in pieces the size of a nut, which 
will triple in size while cooking. Let 
them cook to a golden color, remove 
from the fire and sprinkle with pow- 
dered sugar. Serve hot. 



VIII 

MENU 

Consomme* Royale 
Filet de Sole a la Vene*tienne 
Salade Barbe de Capucin 
Beignets de Peches 

Consomme Royale. — Beat two eggs 
and mix them with half a cup of milk 
and a pinch of salt. Pour into a basin, 
stand this in a larger one containing hot 
water, place in the oven and bake till 
the contents of the small basin are firm, 
renewing water in the larger dish if 
necessary. Allow to cool and when set 
cut into small well-shaped pieces, pour 
over them a quart of hot consomme 
and serve immediately. 

Filet de Sole a la Venetienne. — Place 
in a buttered tin two small or one large 
onion cut in thin slices, a little chopped 
parsley, a bayleaf, one or two whole 
cloves and salt and pepper. Lay the 

56 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 57 

fillets of two soles on these with a 
generous piece of butter, pour over half 
a pint of white stock and a small glass 
of white wine. Cover the tin with oiled 
paper, and bake in the oven for about 
twelve minutes. When the fish is 
cooked take out all the liquor except 
just enough to keep the fish moist as it 
remains in the oven turned very low, 
strain it and add three-quarters of an 
ounce of flour and the same amount of 
butter. Bring the sauce to a boil, take 
it from the fire, add the yolk of an egg 
and a good amount of blanched parsley 
and chervil, chopped very fine. Ar- 
range the fillets of sole on a hot dish, 
pour the sauce over and serve. 

Salade Barbe de Capucin. — Carefully 
pick over and break into convenient 
pieces the required amount of chicory 
and place in a salad bowl well rubbed 
with an onion. Just before serving pour 
over a French dressing, remembering 
to be in making it "a spendthrift for 
oil, a miser for vinegar, a counselor 
for salt and a madman to stir it all up." 



58 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

Beignets des Peches. — Peel, stone and 
cut in halves some firm peaches. Toss 
about in a bowl with sugar, being care- 
ful not to break. Put a pound of flour 
in a basin and stir in gradually half a 
pint of water. Mix the whites of two 
stiffly beaten eggs with this batter and 
then add one and a quarter ounces of 
melted butter. Bring olive oil to a good 
heat in a frying pan, dip each piece of 
peach in the batter and fry in the fat. 
When lightly browned drain on a cloth 
or paper, lay on a baking dish, sift 
powdered sugar over and glaze by plac- 
ing in a hot oven a few minutes. Ar- 
range in pyramid shape on a folded 
napkin on a hot dish and serve im- 
mediately. Canned peaches, if firm, 
may, of course, be substituted for the 
fresh fruit. 



IX 

MENU 

Cotelettes de Saumon, a l'Anglaise 
Pommes de Terre, Marquise 
Petits Pois a la Paysanne 
Salade Americaine 
Choux au Chocolat 

Cotelettes de Saumon, Anglaise — Divide 
slices of salmon into shape of cutlets, 
sprinkle with pepper and salt and put 
into a saucepan with a small amount 
of butter and toss over the fire. When 
cooked take out and drain, place on a 
hot dish and serve with the following 
sauce: Put three tablespoonfuls of 
veloute sauce into a saucepan, reduce 
slightly and add one egg, four ounces of 
butter, a little salt, cayenne, some 
finely minced parsley and the juice of 
half a lemon. Mix together well over 



60 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

the fire till the ingredients are blended 
and it is ready. 

Pommes de Terre, Marquise. — Boil po- 
tatoes in salted water and pass through 
a sieve. Season with salt, pepper, nut- 
meg, chopped parsley and a little 
chopped thyme. Moisten with some 
good gravy or stock and form into small 
balls. Dip each in well beaten egg and 
fry to a light brown in butter. 

Petits Pois a la Paysanne — Take fresh 
green peas, or canned ones if the former 
are not available, put over the fire in a 
saucepan with plenty of butter and stir 
frequently. Cut one or two rashers of 
bacon in very small dice and toss them 
in a saucepan over the fire. When the 
bacon is well fried, mix in with the peas 
and let the two finish cooking together, 
seasoning with pepper, salt and a little 
sugar. 

Salade Americaine— Cut in rounds re- 
sembling a quarter-dollar equal quanti- 
ties of new potatoes, carrots and beet 
root, all previously cooked. Then add a 
sour apple, cut in trie same shape, and a 



I 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 61 

few anchovies cut in small pieces. Pour 
over this a dressing of three parts oil to 
one of vinegar, add pepper, salt, mustard 
and chopped parsley. Pile the salad up 
and surround with cress. 

Choux au Chocolat. — Into a small 
saucepan put half a cup of water with 
two ounces of butter and one of sugar. 
When boiling add gradually two and a 
half ounces of finely sifted flour and stir 
till the mixture is stiff. Take from the 
fire, stir some more, then add two eggs, 
one at a time, beat the whole well, and 
leave to cool. Butter a baking sheet, 
lay the paste on it in round balls the 
size of a plum and bake in a moderate 
oven for about twenty minutes. Allow 
to cool and then make an incision in 
the side of each and fill with whipped 
cream slightly flavored with vanilla or 
with jam. Just before serving glaze 
each chou slightly with a chocolate 
icing. 



X 

MENU 

Consomme Duchesse 
Saumon, Sauce Piquante 
Rissolettes de Bceuf 
Salade a la Heine 
Creme Noyau 

Duchesse Consomme. — Boil four table- 
spoonfuls of rice (ground) in four cups of 
water for fifteen minutes, adding half a 
teaspoonf ul each of salt and sugar. When 
the rice is soft and just before serving 
add a quart of warmed milk, bring to a 
boil, adding lastly a dash of pepper and 
paprika. 

Saumon, Sauce Piquante.— Take slices 
of salmon about three-quarters of an 
inch in thickness and place in a saucepan 
with hot fish broth mixed with a small 
quantity of wine. Allow to simmer for 
fifteen minutes. When cooked remove 
and wipe free from broth, place on a 

62 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 63 

hot platter and serve with a sauce made 
as follows: Melt a quantity of butter, 
flavor to taste with tarragon vinegar, 
pepper, mustard, fennel and such spices 
as are liked. Stir over the fire till 
cooked, move to the side of the stove, 
thicken with the yolk of an egg and 
serve. 

Rissolettes de Boeuf. — With four cups 
of finely minced beef mix one cup of 
breadcrumbs, adding one boiled onion, 
a little essence of anchovies, salt, pepper 
and a raw egg. Make into balls, roll in 
breadcrumbs and fry slowly. Prepare 
a gravy by boiling the trimmings of the 
meat in the water in which the onion was 
boiled, thicken with flour or cornstarch, 
add three teaspoonfuls of lemon juice 
and pour over the rissolettes which 
should be arranged on a heated platter 
around a heap of mashed potatoes. 

Salade a la Reine. — Lay strips of endive 
lengthwise on the salad plates and cross 
them with peeled tomatoes cut in sec- 
tions like an orange. Dress with a 
French salad dressing. 



64 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

Creme Noyau. — Pound in a mortar 
together a quarter pound of Jordan and 
an ounce of bitter almonds with a scant 
half cup of cream and two ounces of 
sugar. Rub through a sieve into a bowl, 
add a pint of whipped cream flavored 
with Noyau and then an ounce of gela- 
tine dissolved. Pour into a mould to 
set. Serve with champagne wafers. 



XI 

MENU 

Consomme* a la Madrilene 

Perches aux Fines Herbes 

Filets Mignons aux Pommes de Terre 

Aubergines Farcies 

Omelette au Rhum 

Consomme a la Madrilene.— Put through 
a medium sieve five or six boiled ripe 
tomatoes, or a can of tomatoes, allow to 
cool and pack in a freezer. Add to a 
cold consomme and serve in cups. 

Perches aux Fines Herbes. — Prepare six 
fresh perch and marinade them with two 
tablespoonfuls of olive oil, a sprig of 
parsley, a little pepper and salt and all- 
spice, bayleaf and other strong spices 
chopped fine. Keep the fish in this for 
about an hour, remove and roll in bread- 

65 



66 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

crumbs lightly flavored with spices. 
Grill over a low fire till a golden 
brown in color and serve with butter 
sauce. 

Filets Mignons aux Pommes de Terre — 
Marinade the required number of small 
filets mignon of mutton in butter sea- 
soned with salt and chervil. Leave for 
an hour or more and just before they 
are to be served, grill them, basting 
frequently with the butter. Flavor with 
lemon juice and serve with buttered 
fried potatoes. 

Aubergines Farcies. — Cut eggplants in 
halves lengthwise, remove the inside 
and of this make a farcie by mixing it 
with chopped parsley, two chopped 
onions and salt and pepper. Stuff the 
eggplant halves with this mixture and 
put the combination into a casserole 
containing a good quantity of melted 
butter and allow to simmer over a slow 
fire till all is thoroughly done. Cover 
the tops with breadcrumbs, add a drop 
of oil or a little melted butter and keep 
piping hot till served. 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 67 

Omelette au Rhum. — Prepare an 
omelette as for any sweet omelette and 
just before serving place on a hot plat- 
ter, pour rum over, ignite and carry to 
the table blazing. 



XII 

MENU 

Potage Biz, Crecy 
Canapes de Saumon Fume* 
Paupiettes de Pore, Sauce Piquante 
Asperges en Petits Pois 
Tarte a la Turque 

Potage Riz, Crecy. — Cut several firm, 
red carrots lengthwise, using only the 
red part. Place in a casserole with a 
good bouillon and allow to simmer over 
a slow fire. Pass through a sieve when 
the carrots are soft, and put back in the 
bouillon. Add a cupful of cooked rice, 
bring to a boil and serve. 

Canapes de Saumon Fume.— Cut a smoked 
salmon into slices and spread them with 
butter, adding pepper and salt and a 
pinch of nutmeg. Heat over a crisp 
fire, place on a hot dish, cover with 
croutons and serve. 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 69 

Paupiettes de Pore, Sauce Piquante. — 
Take small slices of cold roast pork 
and spread them with sausage meat. 
Roll them and fasten with skewers, then 
cover with a thin coating of lard or with 
oiled paper and cook them over a low 
fire in a casserole. When thoroughly 
done, take off the papers, cover with 
breadcrumbs and brown. Serve with a 
piquant sauce. 

Asperges en Petits Pois. — Cut up the 
green part of two bunches of asparagus, 
roll in butter and add a little salt. Heat 
a cupful of flour, being careful not to 
allow it to color, and dredge the aspara- 
gus with it. Put into a saucepan with 
sufficient milk and water in equal parts 
to cover, add a bouquet of herbs and 
allow the whole to simmer till the aspara- 
gus is cooked. Season with white pepper 
and serve. 

Tarte a la Turque. — Boil a cupful of 
rice till thick in milk to which has been 
added a stick of cinnamon, a little 
lemon juice and sugar. When the rice 
is cooked allow to cool. Make a border 



70 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

of it on a buttered plate and fill the 
center with a marmalade made as fol- 
lows : Cut the peeled stalks of a bunch 
of rhubarb into dice and allow them to 
simmer in a small amount of water till 
they are of the consistency of marma- 
lade. Add three or four teaspoonfuls of 
sugar, a lump of butter and the rind of 
a lemon. Take from the fire and im- 
mediately add the beaten yolks of two 
eggs. Arrange, as stated, in the middle 
of the rice, sprinkle with a little more 
sugar and set m the oven for fifteen 
minutes or more before serving. 



XIII 

MENU 

Potage a la Chicore*e 
Allumettes d'Anchois 
Boeuf Bouilli en Vinaigrette 
Pommes Maire 
Salade de Tomates 
Creme Brulee 

Potage a la Chicoree. — Pick carefully 
and wash two or three heads of chicory, 
cut into shreds and pass through a little 
heated butter without allowing to take 
color. Then add sufficient of the water 
in which the Pommes Maire (below) 
were boiled to make the required quan- 
tity of soup, add pepper and salt, sim- 
mer for an hour. Just after taking from 
the fire add the beaten yolk of an egg. 
Pour into the tureen over toasted slices 
of stale bread. 

71 



72 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

Allumettes d'Anchois. — Make a fritter 
paste with flour and oil, omitting salt. 
Soften with white wine. Wash the 
desired number of anchovies, remove the 
bones and draw out the salt by soaking 
in milk. Dip into the paste and fry. 

Boeuf Bouilli en Vinaigrette. — Cut cold, 
lean beef into narrow, thin slices. Place 
it in a bowl with a finely chopped onion 
and some chervil, a few cut-up gherkins, 
a teaspoonful of capers, pour oil, a little 
vinegar and the juice of half a lemon 
over, add pepper and salt, toss well 
together and serve at once. 

Pommes Maire. — Use "kidney" pota- 
toes if procurable; if not, ordinary pota- 
toes of small size. Boil in salt water and 
peel while still hot, then cut in thick 
chips and place in a casserole and cover 
with boiling milk. Season with pepper 
and salt and allow to boil, turning with a 
fork till the milk has boiled away. Re- 
move from the fire, pour over a cup of 
rich milk, season again and serve. 

Salade de Tomates. — Cut a pound of 
not too ripe tomatoes into one inch 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 73 

cubes, add salt, pepper, vinegar and oil 
to taste and then toss together with a 
minced onion. Serve right away. If 
desired, cold boiled beef in dainty slices 
may be added. 

Crime Brulee. — Blend a tablespoon- 
ful of flour with the yolks of three eggs 
and place in a casserole. Pour slowly 
in a pint or more of milk, add a pinch of 
cinnamon, a few drops of extract of 
lemon or any flavor desired, and stir 
constantly over the fire. When the 
cream is cooked, make a caramel sauce 
in a porcelain pot by melting five or 
six lumps of sugar and cooking to the 
browning point. Pour this into a 
serving dish, pour the cream over it and 
allow to cool. 



XIV 

MENU 

Bisque d' Herbes 
Turbot a la Rachel 
Choufieur au Gratin 
Salade Barbe de Capucin 
Gateau de Frangipane 

Bisque d'Herbes. — Chop together about 
a handful each of lettuce, sorrel, spinach, 
also a small onion, a little celery and 
some chervil and cook all with an egg- 
sized piece of butter for fifteen minutes, 
stirring constantly. Then add three 
tablespoonfuls of flour made smooth 
with a little stock, stir in four cupfuls of 
the cauliflower water (which you will 
have from a recipe following) into which 
has been beaten the yolk of an egg. 
Serve very hot with croutons. 

Turbot a la Rachel.— Boil the fish 
in salted water. Whitefish or haddock 

74 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 75 

will serve as well as turbot. Make the 
following sauce: Smooth and brown 
together two tablespoonfuls of flour and 
two ounces of butter and stir in five 
gills of water in which the fish was 
boiled, adding a teaspoonful each of 
anchovy essence and mushroom catsup. 
Remove from the fire and beat in the 
yolks of two eggs and the juice of one 
lemon. Color with liquid carmine or a 
few drops of cochineal and pour over 
the fish. 

Choufleur au Gratin— Dip the cauli- 
flower into ice water, then plunge it into 
boiling salted water to cook fifteen 
minutes. Cut a slice off the stalk, 
remove the leaves, lay on a flat dish and 
cover with a cream sauce. Sprinkle 
with grated breadcrumbs and grated 
Parmesan cheese, brown in the oven 
and serve. 

Salade Barbe de Capucin. — Lay the 
stalks of American endive in a dish and 
cut into small pieces a medium shallot. 
Mix, add a French dressing and sprinkle 
with finely chopped tarragon leaves. 



76 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

Gateau de Frangipane. — Whisk together 
a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar 
and the whites of three eggs, then beat in 
three tablespoonfuls of milk, the grated 
peel of a lemon and a dash of salt. Then 
stir in half a pound of flour. Bake in 
patty tins and when done scoop a piece 
out of the top of each patty and fill with 
jam. Then pour over a sauce made as 
follows: Put two wineglassfuls of white 
wine into a small saucepan and stir in a 
cupful of orange marmalade with the 
juice of a lemon. Thicken with a little 
corn-starch. 



XV 

MENU 

Potage Bisque 
Canard a la Pertinset 
Pommes de Terre a la Creme 
Choufleur au Beurre Noir 
Salade de Lentilles 
Peches au Vin 

Potage Bisque.— Boil as many crabs 
as are needed in water, adding salt, 
pepper, two good sized onions and equal 
quantities of carrots and chives. Re- 
move the crabs and take the meat from 
the claws. Mash the vegetables until 
they form a puree and add a good sized 
lump of butter. Place over the fire with 
water or bouillon and allow to come to a 
boil. Serve very hot with croutons and 
the meat from the crab claws. 

Canard a la Pertinset.— Place a carefully 
prepared duck in a casserole and dredge 

77 



78 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

it with a lump of melted butter, add two 
onions, one clove, a dash of garlic. Put 
in the oven but do not allow the onions 
to become too brown before removing 
the duck. Then add iive or six toma- 
toes, one glass of white wine, a glass of 
bouillon, a few cloves and a bayleaf. 
Let this boil over a low fire, then mash 
the tomatoes and onions, put back the 
duck into the casserole and boil for forty 
minutes. 

Pommes de Terre a la Creme. — Put into 
a casserole a lump of butter, a pinch of 
flour, salt and pepper, nutmeg and a 
young onion. Mix well and add a cup 
of rich milk. Place on the fire, stir con- 
stantly, and remove as soon as the 
mixture comes to a boil. Meanwhile 
boil as many potatoes as are required 
in salted water. Peel and cut into slices, 
add to the sauce and serve. 

Choufleur au Beurre Noir. — Boil a cauli- 
flower and drain. Add a pinch of salt, 
nutmeg and a dash of vinegar to a pint of 
the water in which the cauliflower was 
cooked. Melt two tablespoonfuls of 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 79 

butter and when it is a light brown add 
it to the mixture. Pour over the cauli- 
flower on a hot platter. 

Salade de Lentilles— Having boiled two 
cupfuls of lentils till they are tender, 
season them either hot or cold with a 
little garlic cut up fine, or with chives 
and serve in lettuce leaves with a French 
dressing. 

Peches au Vin— Put peaches into a 
stewpan and cover them with water. In 
ten minutes remove the skins. Then 
place them in a shallow dish and cover 
them either with Madeira or Moselle 
wine and allow them to stand for at 
least two hours. Then drain them, 
place them in the dish in which they are 
to be served and cover them with vanilla 
sugar. Set the wine in which they have 
been soaked on the fire, add sugar to 
taste, and pour the sauce boiling over the 
peaches. 



XVI 

MENU 

Sardines Grillees 
Chapon a, 1'Indienne 
Pommes de Terre en Matelote 
Salade Beaucaire 
Creme Fouettee 

Sardines Grillees.— Grill half a dozen 
sardines, or as many as desired, for a few 
minutes. Melt butter in a frying-pan, 
stir in a little flour and moisten with hot 
water, then add a few drops of vinegar 
a dash of mustard, salt and pepper. 
Pour this very hot over the sardines. 

Chapon a l'lndienne. — Prepare and truss 
a capon as for roasting, rub all over with 
butter and place in a casserole with a 
good sized slice of salt pork. Cook over 
a slow fire for three hours. In the mean- 
time cook a cupful of rice, season it with 

80 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 81 

a little curry powder and pimento, and 
place around the capon on the platter 
on which it is served. 

Pommes de Terre en Matelote. — Slice 
freshly boiled potatoes and cook en 
casserole with seasoning of pepper and 
salt, two or three sliced onions, a sprig 
of chopped parsley, a lump of butter 
and a small amount of flour and water. 
Cook till all the ingredients are well 
blended and when heaped on a platter 
and ready for the table, pour over a 
glass or two of wine. 

Salade Beaucaire. — Chop coarsely celery 
and endive together, season with oil, 
vinegar and mustard an hour before 
using. Just before taking to the table, 
add chopped boiled ham, a sour apple, 
diced, moistened with a little tarragon 
and mayonnaise. Surround the salad 
with a border of small potatoes, boiled 
and sliced, alternated with slices of beet. 

Creme Fouettee. — Whip cream till it is 
very thick or make about a quart of 
custard. Mash thoroughly a pound of 
cherries or raspberries, or both with 



82 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

powdered sugar. Mix with the cream 
or custard, beat again and serve im- 
mediately. In summer this may be 
iced with good results. 



XVII 

MENU 

Potage Mac£doine 
Hornards et Champignons 
C6telettes de Mouton a la Brunoise 
Petits Pois a la Francaise 
Choux a la Creme 

Potage Macedoine. — Place thin pieces 
of ham in the bottom of a saucepan and 
then put in three each of turnips, pota- 
toes and onions, all cut up small. Pour 
in some stock, season with pepper and 
salt and simmer till the ham and vege- 
tables are cooked. Add a quart of milk 
and bring almost to a boil, strain and 
serve immediately. 

Hornards et Champignons. — Cut an 
equal quantity of lobster meat and 
mushrooms into dice. Boil some veloute" 
sauce together with some essence of 
mushrooms till somewhat reduced, then 
thicken and mix with the lobster and 

83 



84 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

mushrooms. Fill ramekin cases with the 
preparation, sprinkle with breadcrumbs, 
pour over a little melted butter and bake 
in the oven till browned. Serve piping 
hot. 

Cotelettes de Mouton a la Brunoise.— 
Trim mutton cutlets neatly, cutting 
away all fat, and place side by side in a 
large stewpan. Cover with well-flavored 
stock and leave to simmer, well covered, 
for an hour and a half. Take equal 
quantities of turnips, onions and celery 
and double the amount of carrots, cut 
all into quarter-inch cubes and fry in 
butter till they begin to color, putting 
in first the carrots, then the celery, then 
the onions and last the turnips. When 
all are done, drain and allow them to 
simmer gently in a little common stock. 
A little while before the cutlets are done 
drain off all the surplus stock from the 
vegetables, or boil it down quickly over 
a hot fire. Dress the cutlets on the rim 
of a platter, heap the vegetables in the 
center and pour the gravy all over them. 
Accompany with mashed potatoes. 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 85 

Petits Pois a la Frangaise.— Cook a pint 
of shelled peas till tender, drain and place 
on the back of the fire with not quite a 
gill of the water in which they have been 
boiled, a little flour and an ounce of 
butter. Simmer for five minutes, adding 
pepper and salt to taste and just before 
taking from the fire add the yolk of an 
egg mixed with a tablespoonful and a 
half of cream. Serve very hot in china 
or paper cases. 

Choux a la Creme— Put a small piece 
of butter in a saucepan with half a pint 
of water, a teaspoonful of sugar, a piece 
of lemon peel and a little salt. Boil well 
together, stir in two tablespoonfuls of 
flour and stir till thick and cooked. 
Allow this paste to cool and then work 
into it two eggs and sufficient milk to 
make it thin enough to drop from a 
spoon. Heat lard in a deep frying pan, 
not quite to the point of boiling, and 
with a spoon drop the paste into it in 
lumps about the size of a hen's egg. 
When slightly brown and well swollen, 
remove the cakes, drain them well, 



86 TWENTY-FOUR: FRENCH DINNERS 

scoop out a little of the top of each 
to form a hollow and allow them to cool. 
Whip cream to a stiff froth and put a 
small amount into the hollow of each 
chou, arrange on a fancy dish and serve. 
The chou may be filled with jelly or pre- 
serves if preferred. 



XVIII 

MENU 

Potage a la Printaniere 

Paupiettes de Veau 

Pommes de Terre, Maitre d'Hotel 

Salade de Laitue 

Feuiilantines 

Potage a la Printaniere— Cut two car- 
rots and one turnip into shapes with a 
vegetable scoop, simmer for twenty 
minutes in salted water, drain and place 
in a quart of the water in which the pota- 
toes (in this same menu) were boiled. 
Add a handful of chiflfonade, cook five 
minutes and serve. 

Paupiettes de Veau.— Cut thin cutlets 
from a fillet of veal and beat them fiat 
and even. Also mince a small quantity 
of the veal very fine, mix it with some 
of the kidney fat, also minced fine, and 
87 



88 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

half a dozen minced anchovies, adding 
a little salt, ginger and powdered mace. 
Place this mixture over the slices of veal 
and roll them up. Beat up an egg, dip 
the rolled slices in it and then in sifted 
breadcrumbs. Let them stand for fif- 
teen or twenty minutes, egg them again, 
roll in breadcrumbs and fry to a golden 
brown in boiling lard or clarified drip- 
ping, or stew them in some rich gravy 
with half a pint of white wine and a 
small quantity of walnut pickle. 

Pommes de Terre, Maitre d'Hotel. — Cut 
up carefully selected, underboiled and 
cold potatoes in rather thick slices. 
Dredge half a tablespoonful of flour in a 
saucepan with a lump of butter and 
when smooth add gradually a cupful of 
broth, stirring till it boils. Place in the 
potatoes along with a tablespoonful of 
chopped parsley and pepper and salt. 
Stew for three or four minutes, remove 
the pan to the side of the fire and add 
quickly the yolk of an egg previously 
well beaten with a teaspoonful of cold 
water and a little lemon juice. When 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 89 

the egg has become thickened, turn the 
potatoes with their sauce on a flat dish 
and serve. 

Salade de Laitue. — Select fine lettuces, 
remove the coarse outer leaves, wash 
and wipe, place in a salad bowl and 
sprinkle over a tablespoonful of chopped 
chives, half a teaspoonful each of 
chopped chervil and tarragon. Season 
with a pinch of salt, half a teaspoonful 
of pepper, two tablespoonfuls of vinegar 
and a tablespoonful and a half of oil. 
Mix thoroughly and serve. 

Feuillantines. — Prepare some puff 
paste; roll out to about a third of an inch 
thick and cut into strips an inch wide 
and two inches long. Spread a baking 
dish thick with butter, arrange the pieces 
of paste on it, placing them upon their 
sides and leaving a small space between 
them. Put them in the oven and when 
they are firm and their sides have 
spread, glaze them with white of egg 
and dust with powdered sugar. As the 
feuillantines are cooked set them on 
paper and drain off any extra grease. 



90 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

Now mask them separately with small 
quantities of different colored jams. 
Arrange on fancy edged dish-paper or a 
folded napkin on a dish and serve. 



XIX 

MENU 

Potage Creme d'Orge 
Bceuf a, la Mode 
Pommes de Terre, Sautees 
Salade de Romaine 
Souffle au Chocolat 

Potage Creme d'Orge. — Mix in a sauce- 
pan a teacupful of barley, an onion, a 
small piece of cinnamon, half a blade 
of mace and three pints of water in 
which potatoes have been boiled. When 
the mixture boils remove from the center 
of the fire and allow to simmer slowly for 
three hours or more. Pass through a 
fine sieve and return to saucepan. Mix 
in two tablespoonfuls of butter and half 
a pint of boiling milk, season with pep- 
per and salt. Beat an egg yolk in a 
teacupful of milk, mix in the soup but 
do not allow to boil after egg is added. 
Serve with croutons. 
91 



92 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

Boeuf a la Mode. — Take the under part 
of a round of beef, place it in a deep 
earthen dish and pour over it spiced 
vinegar. Let the meat remain in this 
for several hours, then dress it with 
strips of salt pork, a third of an inch 
square, inserted in incisions made a few 
inches apart. Stuff larger incisions 
with breadcrumbs highly seasoned with 
salt, pepper, onions, thyme and mar- 
joram. Bind the beef into a shape to 
retain the dressing and dredge with 
flour. Then cut up two onions, half a 
carrot and half a turnip and fry in fat 
drippings till brown and place in a 
stewpan. Brown the meat all over with 
the same fat, place on a trivet in the pan, 
half cover with boiling water, add a 
small quantity of mixed herbs tied in a 
bag, cover and simmer for about four 
hours, or till done. Take out carefully, 
remove strings and cloth, and place on a 
large dish. Skim off the fat from the 
gravy, add more seasoning, thicken 
with wetted flour worked smooth, boil 
for eight or ten minutes and strain over 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 93 

the meat. Decorate with small onions 
and potato balls. 

Pommes de Terre, Sautees. — Boil pota- 
toes until almost done, cut into quar- 
ters or slices of medium thickness. 
Melt butter or clarified drippings in a 
frying pan, put in the potatoes sprinkled 
with salt and pepper and finely chopped 
parsley and toss over the fire till they 
are a fine golden brown color. Serve 
with chopped parsley. 

Salade de Romaine. — Put crisp leaves 
of romaine in a salad bowl rubbed 
lightly with a shallot or new onion. 
Make the following dressing. Take 
one hard-boiled egg and mash it as 
finely as possible with a fork, add a 
little paprika, a pinch of salt, half a 
teaspoonful of French mustard, a tea- 
spoonful of hashed chives, the same of 
hashed tarragon, two tablespoonfuls of 
oil and three of vinegar. Add this to the 
romaine, toss well and serve. 

Souffle au Chocolat. — Mix a small table- 
spoonful of starch with a gill of milk and 
when quite smooth add two ounces of 



94 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

powdered sugar and two ounces of 
butter. Put the mixture into a sauce- 
pan and stir over the fire till it boils. 
When cold stir in an ounce of grated 
chocolate and the yolks of two eggs. 
Beat well together till perfectly smooth, 
then mix in the whites of the eggs. 
Pour into a buttered souffle dish and 
bake for forty minutes. 



XX 

MENU 

Potage Gourmet 
Eglefin a la Maitre d'Hotel 
Pommes de Terre, Casserole 
Salade de Tomates et de Laitue 
Canards Sauvages, Sauce Orange 
Souffle au Citron 

Potage Gourmet. — Pour into a sauce- 
pan about a quart of the water in which 
potatoes have been boiled, add a small 
amount of cold chicken cut in small dice, 
two tablespoonfuls of boiled rice, two 
tablespoonfuls of cooked green peas and 
one truffle cut into dice, also pepper and 
salt, along with one or two whole cloves. 
Bring to a boil, allow to simmer for fif- 
teen minutes, and serve. 

Eglefin a la Maitre d' Hotel.— Cut a 
cleaned haddock open at the back on 
each side of the bone, duct with pepper 

95 



96 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

and salt, dip in flour, place on a gridiron 
over a clear fire and cook for about 
twenty minutes, turning carefully from 
time to time. Remove from the fire, 
place two ounces of butter on the back 
of the fish, place it in the oven to melt 
the butter, then, put the fish on a hot 
platter and sprinkle with mince parsley 
and lemon juice, the latter heated. 

Pommes de Terre, Casserole. — Boil a 
pound or two of potatoes, drain and 
mash and make into a stiff paste by add- 
ing butter and milk together with a little 
salt. Form into a casserole, put on a 
dish, make an opening in the top, brown 
in the oven and serve. 

Salade de Tomates et Laitue. — Split 
the white leaves of lettuce into quarters 
and place in a bowl. Cut tomatoes into 
thin slices and place over the lettuce. 
Season with a sauce made of one part of 
vinegar, two of oil, a little salt and 
pepper. Pour the sauce over just before 
serving. 

Canards Sauvages, Sauce Orange. — Roast 
two wild ducks over a brisk fire, having 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 97 

them underdone, more or less, according 
to taste. Baste all the time they are 
cooking with butter and the juice of 
lemon and serve with the following 
sauce. Shred finely the rind of two 
oranges and parboil in a little water. 
Melt an ounce of butter and stir into it 
a dessertspoonful of flour moistened 
with a little water. Stir well over the 
fire and then add the juice of the two 
oranges, some very clear gravy, flavor 
with pepper and salt and cayenne, then 
add the parboiled orange rind. Let the 
sauce boil and keep hot till wanted. 

Souffle au Citron. — Put three egg yolks 
and three ounces of powdered sugar into 
a basin with the grated rind of a lemon 
and a half and stir till quite thick. Add 
slowly a tablespoonful of lemon juice 
and then, quickly, the well beaten whites 
of the three eggs. Pour into a pie dish 
and bake in a medium oven for twenty 
minutes. When the surface is a golden 
brown it is done. Serve immediately. 



XXI 

MENU 

Filets de Carrelets, Italienne 
Pommes de Terre, Loulou 
Cailles Rotis 

Salade des Tomates et d'Artichauts 
Vol-au-Vent, Chantilly 

Filets de Carrelets, Italienne. — Take the 
fillets of two firm flounders, trim and 
flour each piece lightly. Dip in egg 
beaten with pepper and salt, cover on 
both sides with stale breadcrumbs and 
fry in boiling olive oil. When the fillets 
are a golden brown place on a sieve in 
front of the fire with a soft paper be- 
neath them that they may drain. Serve 
with fried parsley and quarters of 
lemon. 

Pommes de Terre, Loulou. — Chop raw 
potatoes fine and place them in a sauce- 
pan with butter and a seasoning of pep- 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 99 

per, salt, paprika and a trace of nutmeg. 
Cover and cook very slowly, agitating 
them constantly. When they become 
soft, beat well and arrange a layer on a 
vegetable dish, sprinkle with Parmesan 
cheese, put on another layer of pota- 
toes, then more cheese, and so on, hav- 
ing the top layer of cheese. Pour over 
all melted butter and bake about twenty 
minutes in a slow oven. 

Cailles Rotis. — Tie a thin slice of bacon 
over the breast of each quail, roast them 
at a clear fire for fifteen minutes, basting 
frequently. Lay them on crisp buttered 
toast, sprinkle with minced parsely, salt 
and paprika, and serve with a rich wine 
jelly on a separate dish. 

Salade des Tomates et d'Artichauts. — 
Cut the under part of boiled artichokes 
into slices and take the same number of 
slices of tomato. Dip both into a 
dressing made of olive oil, vinegar, 
tarragon, chervil, salt and pepper, with 
a little mustard and arrange in a salad 
bowl. Pour over the remainder of the 
dressing and serve. 



100 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

Vol-au-Vent, Chantilly. — Roll a pound 
of puff paste to about an eighth of an 
inch in thickness and cut out about 
thirty rounds with a fluted cutter, about 
two and a half inches in diameter. Then 
cut out the center of these with a cutter 
about an inch across. Roll out the 
paste taken from the centers and cut 
out more rings in the same way. Brush 
the rings over with egg, place one on top 
of another, two by two, press together 
so that they will stick, place on a baking 
sheet, brush over with egg and bake in a 
brisk: oven. When almost done sprinkle 
with sugar and allow to remain in the 
oven till they are glazed and fully done. 
Remove and place on a warmed platter 
and fill with any sort of cream desired, 
or jam or tart marmalade. 



XXII 

MENU 

Potage Julienne 
Homard Bordelaise 
Canard a la Reine 
Salade a la Russe 
Cafe Bavaroise 

Potage Julienne. — Cut carrots, onions, 
leeks and turnips into thin slices or 
strips of equal size with a head of celery. 
Put all into two ounces of butter melted 
in a saucepan and toss over a slow fire 
for a few minutes. If desired other 
vegetables in season such as cauliflower, 
peas or asparagus may be added. Pour 
clear chicken broth over the vegetables, 
put in some pieces of cold chicken, 
allow to come to a boil, then simmer till 
the vegetables are tender and pour the 
whole into the tureen with sippets of 
toast. 

101 



102 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

Homard Bordelaise. — Cut a small car- 
rot and an onion into fine pieces and 
boil for five minutes in a wineglassful 
of red wine. Now add the meat from 
two lobsters, cut in small pieces, say, 
about a pound and a half. Season with 
a very little pepper, salt, and a trace 
of nutmeg, adding, just before the 
lobster is cooked, about half a pint of 
veloute sauce. Stew well together and 
serve at once. 

Canard a la Reine. — Cut off one wing 
of a duck and half the breast from the 
same side, remove the skin, take out 
the bone and fill the place with quenelle 
forcemeat. Lard the breast and put it 
into a braising pan over slices of leeks, 
carrots and onions and a little thyme, 
chervil, bayleaves and lemon peel. Add 
sufficient stock to prevent burning, set 
the pan on the fire and braise the duck, 
then glaze it. Serve with a puree of 
beans for garnish. 

Salade a la Russe .— Cut cold chicken 
and salmon into thin slices, arrange in 
a salad dish and mix with finely cut 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 103 

cooked asparagus heads, carrots and 
cauliflower, a few capers and a little 
caviare. The dressing is made with 
three parts of oil and one of vinegar, a 
little mustard and cayenne pepper and 
a tablespoonful of minced onion. Pour 
over the salad and stand on the ice till 
served. 

Cafe Bavaroise. — Grind half a pound of 
green coffee, roast in a sugar boiler with- 
out burning it or even browning and 
soak a quart of milk with it for about an 
hour. Now stir into a cupful of flour a 
teaspoonful of castor sugar into which 
has been dropped a little vanilla extract, 
and a little salt. Stir this all in with 
the strained coffee-flavored milk, bring 
to a boil, remove from the fire and stir 
in the yolks, then the whites of three 
eggs, all beaten firm. Fill paper cases 
with the mixture, bake, sprinkle castor 
sugar over the tops and serve at once. 



XXIII 

MENU 

Huitres a l'Americaine 

Bceuf a, l'Aurore 

Pommes de Terre, Lyonnaise 

Salade Frangaise 

Creine a la Russe 

Huitres a l'Americaine. — Place in a 
sauce bowl a heaped teaspoonful of 
salt, three-quarters of a teaspoonful of 
white pepper, a medium sized onion, 
chopped, and a teaspoonful of minced 
parsley. Mix lightly together aJong 
with a teaspoonful of olive oil, six drops 
of tobasco sauce, a little Worcestershire 
sauce and a gill of vinegar. Put a tea- 
spoonful of this mixture on each raw 
oyster just before taking to the table. 

Boeuf a PAurore. — Season two steaks 
of about three-quarters of a pound each 
(any ordinary cut will do) with salt and 

104 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 105 

pepper, baste on either side with a little 
oil and broil over a brisk fire for six 
minutes. Place on a hot dish and serve 
with the following sauce poured over: 
Mix in a saucepan a small glass of mush- 
room liquor with half a pint of bechamel 
sauce, half an ounce of butter and two 
or three tablespoonfuls of tomato sauce. 
Place on the fire, stir for ten minutes 
and just before removing add whole 
mushrooms cut in squares. 

Salade Frangaise. — Chop fine a bunch 
of parsley, two small onions and six 
anchovies. Lay them in a bowl and 
mix with salt and mustard to taste, 
two tablespoonfuls of salad oil and a 
gill of vinegar. Stir all well together 
and then add, one at a time, some very 
thin strips of cold roasted or boiled 
meat, not more than three or four inches 
long. Shake the slices well in the dress- 
ing. Cover the bowl closely and allow 
to stand for at least three hours. Serve 
garnished with parsley. 

Pommes de Terre, Lyonnaise. — Cut into 
round slices eight boiled potatoes, lay 



106 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

them in a frying pan with an ounce and 
a half of butter and the slices of a partly 
cooked onion. Season with salt and 
pepper and cook till the potatoes become 
well browned, tossing all the while. 
Serve with chopped parsley sprinkled 
over. 

Creme a la Russe— Put into a saucepan 
a pint of milk, half a pound of lump 
sugar, the grated rind of two lemons and 
an ounce of gelatine, previously soaked 
in water. Cook till the sugar dissolves 
over a slow fire, then allow the mixture 
to cool somewhat before stirring in the 
yolks of two eggs, unbeaten. Place on 
the fire to curdle. Strain, and when cool 
add the juice of the two lemons and the 
whites of the eggs beaten stiffly. Stir 
all well together and pour into a wet 
mould. Turn out when well set. 



XXIV 

MENU 

Potage Napolitaine 
Truites a la Monbarry 
Croquettes de Pommes de Terre 
Celeri-rave en Salade 
Pouding aux Figues 

Potage Napolitaine.— Boil in strong 
bouillon small forcemeat balls made of 
any left-over game or meat. Then soak 
croutons in the same bouillon. Add the 
forcemeat balls and serve. 

Truites a la Monbarry.— Prepare sev- 
eral trout and lay them in a pan with a 
quarter pound of butter and some strong 
spices. Allow to heat slowly in an open 
oven and when the butter is entirely 
melted, drop on the trout two well 
beaten yolks of eggs. Grate cheese 
over this and cover all with a quantity 
of fine breadcrumbs. Brown lightly in 
a hot oven and serve. 

Croquettes de Pommes de Terre.— Boil 

107 



108 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

and drain about two and a half pounds 
of potatoes. Add a generous quantity 
of butter, yolks of two eggs, salt and 
pepper and the white of the eggs beaten 
to a snow. Beat the whole up briskly, 
shape the mixture into balls and fry in a 
pan. 

Celeri-rave en Salade. — Trim carefully 
a bunch of celery, leaving on as much of 
the root as possible. Cut in half and 
boil in salted water till tender. Then 
trim into even sticks and season it very 
piquantly with French mustard, a few 
young onions, pepper, salt and finely 
chopped parsley. Garnish with lettuce- 
leaves and slices of beet. 

Pouding aux Figues— Mix in a large 
bowl a cupful of breadcrumbs, half a 
cup of farina, a pinch of salt, a cup of 
suet, cut fine, a cup of powdered sugar, 
a minced carrot and a cup and a half 
of chopped figs. Grease a baking mould, 
line it with whole figs, and empty the 
mixture into it. Cook for four hours, 
the pan standing in water. Serve hot 
with a rum sauce. 



LET US EAT FISH 

A FAMOUS FRENCH LUNCHEON 
A L'AMERICAINE 

Only in the Latin countries has fish 
as an edible ever been fully appreciated 
and, as is the case with most other things 
gastronomic, it is in France that the 
food possibilities of the denizens of the 
water have been brought nearest per- 
fection. 

Over here we have always seemed to 
regard fish as useful chiefly for stocking 
aquariums or for furnishing sport for 
the vacationist, along with golf, tennis 
and bowling. True, we have become 
rather well acquainted with certain 
sea foods, the oysters, Blue Points and 
Cape Cods; we have a nodding acquaint- 
ance with some of the clam clan, espe- 
cially the Rhode Island branch, and the 
Little Necks, the blue bloods of the 
family. And, of course, we are familiar 

109 



110 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

with the crustaceans, the lobsters and 
the crabs. 

And we know, too, certain succulent 
sea delicacies that come to us from Palm 
Beach shores and California and Oregon 
regions, tuna and halibut, bluefish and 
salmon as it comes to us variously pre- 
pared for the table. In short, we Ameri- 
cans are fairly friendly with a number 
of the aristocrats of the water, but on 
analyzing the situation we come to 
realize that as for knowing the "finny 
tribe" as a whole well enough to get 
complete gastronomic joy out of the 
situation, it remains that it is only the 
French people who are so blessed. 

Time and the hour and the high price 
of meat, however, render it advisable, 
even absolutely necessary, that we work 
all our resources instead of only a part 
of them, to economize whenever and 
wherever we can, and the waters in our 
midst and around us are surely one of 
the most important resources not already 
worked to the limit. 

Therefore, let us eat fish — but first 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 111 

let us learn of the French about fish, 
even as we have learned of them con- 
cerning other foods, or as we have 
learned fashions, for, verily, the turning 
out of a proper fish dish for the table 
has ever been regarded by the French 
as no less an art than the creation of a 
beautiful frock in one of their ateliers. 
Moreover, their ways with fish are so 
broadly inclusive that one may make 
up an entire menu from one end to the 
other, with only a cup of coffee needed 
as a final fillip to make a perfect meal — 
and all of fish. 

By way of furnishing inspiration to 
our own appetites, herewith is a sug- 
gestion for a fish luncheon, a favorite 
menu of France, which its wealth and 
fashion delighted to have set before it 
in those good old days before the war. 
Substitutes are given for any fish not 
indigenous to American waters; other- 
wise it is just as it would be served at one 
of the Riviera restaurants, with the 
exception, of course, that on the 
Riviera or at any of the noted marine 



112 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

restaurants, the visitor himself was per- 
mitted to select the fish for each course 
from among the different specimens 
swimming in the reserves, altogether 
unconscious of impending fate. 

No French restauranteur worthy the 
name ever kept dead fish in stock, for 
nothing deteriorates so quickly. There 
is rarely over here the natural reserve 
that the Riviera takes as a matter of 
course, although there is, in some res- 
taurants, the tank of running water in 
which the fish are kept in condition till 
required. 



AN ALL FISH LUNCHEON 

MENU 

Hors d'CEuvres. Little Necks or Blue Points. 

(At Monte Carlo one would be served Clovisses.) 

Lobster with Sauce Piquante. 

(A substitute for the French langouste, which is 
similar to a giant lobster minus the two long 
nippers. Or there might be served abroad for 
this course a little gelatinous fellow called supion, 
or sea-hedgehog, or perhaps nonnots, smaller and 
more delicate than our own whitefish.) 

French Sardines Grilled, or Shad Planked. 

(Shad is a most satisfactory substitute for the 
French restauranteur's delight — loup de mer.) 

Flounder, Sauce Meuniere, or Shrimps. 

(In Dieppe sole and certain crevettes are both 
specialties and are served at this juncture, but 
little sole is being received here and our own 
flounder answers requirements admirably. Shrimps, 
too, will please an American palate fully as well as 
the crevettes. 

Bouillabaisse. 

(This, for which we have no nearer synonym than 
fish stew, which is a libel, is the piece de resistance 
of the luncheon. It is probably the most famous 
fish dish of France.) 

Salade de Poisson with Aioli. 

(Aioli is a Mediterranean mayonnaise and "the 
dressing," the French say, "is the soul of the 
salad." 

113 



114 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

It will be noted that there is no 
dessert given with the above menu, 
but the repast may be gracefully topped 
off with crackers and cheese and cafe* 
noir. Tea is never served with fish, as 
the tannin is said to render fish par- 
ticularly indigestible. 



TO PREPARE THE LUNCHEON 

The French disdain the pepper, horse- 
radish and tomato mixtures with which 
we are wont to dress raw oysters, pre- 
ferring to get the full coppery taste 
peculiar to their home product, but the 
American oyster, even these artists of 
the culinary department agree, re- 
quires a dressing to bring out the flavor. 
As for the clovisse, which is, by the way, 
first cousin to our clam, it is eaten from 
the shell, each clovisse being opened 
immediately before being disposed of. 

Lobster as here served to take the 
place of the French langouste, tastes 
much like deviled lobster. The sauce 
piquante is made as follows: Into a 
saucepan put a tablespoonful of finely 
chopped onion with a little salt, grated 
nutmeg, black pepper and an ounce of 
butter. When this melts and blends 
add a little chopped red pepper along 

115 



116 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

with three tablespoonfuls of vinegar 
and a teaspoonful of mustard. Stir 
together well, then mix in half an ounce 
of flour and half a pint of fish stock. 
Simmer for half an hour, skimming 
occasionally and, finally add a chopped 
pickled gherkin. 

Sauce Meuniere, served with the sole, 
or, in this case with the flounder, is 
made by adding a few shrimps and mus- 
sels, minced, to a pint of white wine in a 
saucepan, along with a cupful of minced 
mushrooms, a teaspoonful of butter, 
salt and pepper and three or four cloves. 
Simmer for twenty minutes and pour 
over the fish just before serving. 

Salade de Poisson, Aioli, is made by tak- 
ing any cold fish, say salmon, with this 
menu. It is flaked and marinaded in 
oil and vinegar seasoned well with pep- 
per and salt. Allow to remain for an 
hour or so, then remove and arrange 
compactly in a salad bowl. The aioli, 
the Mediterranean delicacy with which 
it is served, is made by whipping two 
eggs, four teaspoonfuls of olive oil, a 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 117 

half teaspoonful of French mustard 
and a half cupful of cream together 
till stiff, in a bowl rubbed with garlic. 
Heap this on the center of the fish. 

As for the Bouillabaisse, it is like our 
own Welsh Rabbit in so far as hardly 
any two persons make it alike. Here 
are two recipes which gastronomic au- 
thorities have accorded the meed of 
highest praise: 

No. 1. — Cut into pieces and remove 
the bones from three pounds of fish; 
say one pound each of cod, halibut and 
bluefish, though any fish of like nature 
will do. To these add the cooked meat 
of one lobster or two crabs, and six 
shrimps and put all into a casserole in 
half a pint or more of olive oil to cook, 
adding one lemon, sliced, two tomatoes, 
one onion, one sliced carrot, a bunch of 
saffron, a bunch of parsley, a bayleaf 
and a clove of garlic — or have the 
casserole rubbed with the garlic. Cook 
for ten minutes, stirring frequently, 
then add one cup of soup stock and a 
glass of wine or cider. Cook for fifteen 



118 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

minutes longer, remove to a hot bowl, 
line the casserole with slices of toast, 
and pour back the bouillabaisse. Serve 
at once. 

No. 2. — Place the pieces of fish to 
any desired amount in a large saucepan, 
add two or three sliced onions, one or 
two sliced carrots, three shallots, two 
cloves of garlic, a bunch of thyme and 
parsley, three or four cloves, two bay- 
leaves, half a teaspoonful of capsicum, 
a wine-glass of olive oil and salt and 
pepper to taste. Pour over the above 
mixture two quarts of water and boil 
gently for half an hour, the pan covered. 
Drain and lay on a hot dish. Then mix 
a teaspoonful of saffron in the liquid, 
pass through a strainer into a soup 
tureen. Serve the soup with the fish 
and a plate of croutons of fried bread or 
sippets of toast. 



FISH A LA MARSEILLES 

The French have another fish dish 
which, like bouillabaisse, is practically 
a meal in itself and which in these 
days should be better known to the 
American table. It is a specialty in the 
vicinity of Marseilles and made there, 
of course, with fish peculiar to the home 
waters, but M. Auguste Gay, Chef of 
the Yale Club, New York, who, inci- 
dentally, has probably given more atten- 
tion to the adaptation of French cook- 
ery to American requirements than any 
other chef, is authority for the state- 
ment that the following recipe produces 
an almost perfect substitute for the 
French dish: 

Chop into fine bits a small sweet 
Chile pepper and toss it about in a 
saucepan over the fire with a third of a 
cupful of olive oil or butter. When hot 
add a cupful of okra and the same 

119 



120 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

amount of stewed fresh or canned toma- 
toes. Cook fifteen minutes and add a 
full cupful of cooked fresh fish — cod, 
haddock, etc., and a half cupful of 
flaked salt fish, mackerel, for instance. 
Cover and cook for twenty minutes 
longer and serve with water crackers. 



GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 

One secret of the French cook's 
superiority to the American in preparing 
fish is that the former has almost a con- 
genital knowledge of his subject. To 
him all fish is not just fish. He dif- 
ferentiates sharply as to species, tem- 
pering his treatment to varied require- 
ments. 

Roughly, there are two classes of fish : 
those which have dark flesh or flesh 
with a pinkish tone which is streaked 
with fat, and those which have white, 
firm flesh and are the more digestible. 
Best known in the first class are shad, 
butterfish, bluefish, salmon, mackerel 
and sturgeon, and in the second, cod, 
halibut, flounder, trout, rock and sea 
bass, pompano, weakfish and perch. 

One matter-of-course rule is that no 
fish of whatever kind shall be allowed 
to enter the kitchen unless it is per- 
121 



122 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

fectly fresh. To be sure of this see that 
the gills are bright and shining and the 
flesh firm, not readily separating from 
the bones. That settled, you have an 
almost endless choice of ways of cook- 
ing. 

Fish may be boiled, broiled, fried, 
baked, planked, creamed, steamed, 
cooked en casserole, jellied or pickled, 
but of all these ways none produces 
quite the universally satisfactory re- 
sults with a sizable fish that planking 
does, and planking is not more difficult 
or expensive than other methods. 

All that is required in the way of 
accoutrements is a half -inch-thick hard- 
wood board which is heated in advance 
in the oven when planked fish is to 
figure on the menu. Then having thor- 
oughly cleaned the fish, removed its 
head and tail, split it up the back half 
through the bone so that it will open out 
flat, brush it with butter and season 
with pepper and salt, place it skin-side 
down on the board. 

Put it in the oven and when it is 



TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 123 

done, which can be easily ascertained 
by lifting a bit of the flesh, you, being 
American, may garnish the board with 
mashed and seasoned potatoes, set the 
board back in the oven till the potatoes 
are browned and serve. The French, on 
taking the cooked fish from the oven, 
merely brush it with a little oil or melted 
butter, squeeze some lemon juice over, 
sprinkle a few bits of parsley about, 
and send the fish thus to the table. 

Small fish, such as perch, smelts, etc., 
are best fried in deep fat or its substi- 
tute, first being dipped in egg and rolled 
in fine cracker or breadcrumbs, then 
served with a Sauce Mousseline, mashed 
potatoes or boiled new ones, and a crisp 
salad. 

This Sauce Mousseline is made by 
beating two eggs in a saucepan, adding 
a cupful of top milk, butter the size of 
a walnut and pepper and salt, then stir- 
ring over the fire till it begins to thicken. 
When of the proper consistency, add a 
tablespoonful of lemon juice and it is 
ready for the table. 



124 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 

A tart sauce for boiled fish that is 
much favored in the south of France 
but which, if it has ever crossed the 
water, has kept its arrival very quiet, 
is quite simply made and will be much 
liked as a decided change. To make it 
dissolve a tablespoonful of powdered 
mustard in a half cupful of fish stock 
and add two tablespoonfuls of white 
wine vinegar by preference, though 
other vinegar will do. Let this come to 
a boil, add two or three slices of lemon 
and boil a few minutes longer. Take 
from the fire and add two eggs that have 
been beaten with a teaspoonful of water. 
Season with salt and pepper and heat 
again but do not allow to boil, 



